The world is about to experience the phenomenon of a binary star system encircling each other. When they come together it will crescendo into a supernova of icons of science, space, and just plain coolness! Yes, I'm fanboying out about 2-time Emmy winner, William Shatner, and Earth’s honorary science officer, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.
On June 18, at McCaw Hall in Seattle, for one cosmic night only, Shatner and Tyson will host a live event to nerd out on all the mysteries of the universe, the human race, and of course when we ever achieve space travel at light speed.
The “Rocking the Universe is Absurd!” will be an event horizon encircling the anomaly this is Starfleet’s greatest Captain and Astrophysics most renowned spokesperson. Presented by Future of Space, tickets for this stellar event start at $95 and there are VIP packages starting at $200.
Boys will be boys
Bill and Neil recently sat down with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to discuss their "absurd bromance". On their recent trip to Antarctica, the two we on stage entertaining other explorers when Bill had a self-induced existential crisis, for all to see. It was clear that these two enjoy each other when Neil, joking about Bill's rant on the universe where we come from and how will it all end, when he said this – while pointing out where Bill's veins from popping out from worry:
“You're thinking about the quantum and consciousness at the beginning of the universe and what was around before and how's and it going to end. Your face got red, and veins started popping out of your forehead that I said I have to rescue this man from his existential angst about the universe…look at that, look at that, his face is red right now!"
Bill commenting on how brilliant Neils is, joking:
“he’s a ChatGPT walking…you press a button and out comes the answers…”
Colbert, without a beat, says:
“Where’s the button…”
Bill & Neil's excellent adventure
With all of their achievements and accolades, I love that these two giants of science, while one based on science fiction and the other in scholarly theory - do not take themselves too seriously and they can poke fun at each other’s expense.
What is fascinating is how much in common the oldest person to go to space (Bill, at 90 years old on Blue Origin's Shepard rocket ) has with the person most singularly responsible for affirming reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet – and why science books and literature changed to 8 planets revolving around the Sun and not 9 (Neil, as director of the Hayden Planetarium).
These two titans of technology and research have a passion for space and science and the universe in general with Bill playing the iconic Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise and Neil and world-renowned astrophysicist. They both have this childlike quality of being curious and a fascination for exploring the stars beyond Earth. It’s refreshing to see these men interact in their natural habitat of being in the public eye.
I suspect this once in million opportunity to see Bill and Neil and what Future of Space is calling "A Night Like No Other" will be just as thrilling and unpredictable as a three-object orbiting system (aka 3-body-problem) with an infinite pattern of gravitational force on each object's mass, speed and rotation.